Are Gateway Drugs Real?

The practice of addiction treatment has changed many times in the past few decades. Yet the idea of “gateway drugs” is one that’s still commonly used both by laymen and SUD treatment experts.
However, in recent decades, the very idea of a mild or even legal substance being a primer for later hard drug use has come under attack. Hopefully, you can come to your mind about the gateway drug concept, potentially making better decisions for yourself and your family.

Below are some of the things you should understand about the idea of gateway drugs. If you suspect that you or someone close to you has a problem with drugs or alcohol, our team at Boston Drug Treatment Centers is ready to help.

What are “gateway drugs”?

These are comparatively mild substances that supposedly cause a user to use harder drugs. Nicotine and alcohol are commonly cited as gateway drugs, as is cannabis. Interestingly, caffeine, the world’s most used mind-altering substance, is not widely considered to be a gateway drug, though it definitely is by most definitions.

This brings up some of the reasons why the “gateway drug” concept is not universally accepted. While there is scientific and anecdotal evidence supporting the idea, at least part of what makes something a so-called “gateway drug” problematic is culturally bound.

What drugs are commonly considered to be gateway drugs?

Substances commonly considered to be gateway drugs include the following:

• Tobacco
• Cannabis
• Alcohol
• Prescription painkillers
• Prescription anxiolytics
• ADHD medication
• Caffeine

Additionally, some activities are sometimes considered to be “gateway activities” that predict future drug use. This can include vaping and the consumption of energy drinks.

What evidence supports the idea of gateway drugs?

There are thousands of studies that support the idea that gateway drugs are real, or at least demonstrate a link between different substances. Likewise, if you ask virtually any substance rehab specialist, they will tell you that most people with substance use disorders follow patterns that seem to suggest gateway drugs are real.

For instance, users of cocaine and other stimulant drugs are far more likely to be tobacco users as well. Alcohol use in adolescence can also predict the later use of harder drugs in adulthood. There are also numerous other studies involving human and animal test subjects that seem to support the gateway drug idea. The fact that drug users often switch and substitute substances is also sometimes used to suggest a link between different addictive substances.

What are the critiques against the gateway drug concept?

While there may be patterns that predict future drug misuse, the vast majority of people who use these so-called gateway drugs do not go on to use “harder” substances like heroin, meth, or cocaine. Looking at most of the available research closely, it’s difficult if not impossible to use the data to prove that so-called milder substances like cannabis and tobacco cause the use of harder drugs.

Rather, what these studies may in fact be showing is that people who use “hard” drugs are more likely to have tried other milder substances as well. This suggests other causes of heavy drug use, such as environmental and genetic factors, rather than the use of some other substance.

Cultural factors and mental health

A recent study suggests that culture may have the biggest role to play when it comes to the existence of a so-called gateway drug effect. This shows that identified use patterns vary across cultures, which implies that the use of hard drugs may not be caused by the use of other milder substances.

The study also notes that as tobacco use has significantly dropped in the United States, that its association with mental health disorders has become stronger. This implies that one’s mental health may be more of a factor in predicting the use of any substance. The study also concludes by saying that the age of substance use and any exposure to any drug is a better predictor than exposure to any specific mild substance.

Conclusion

The idea of gateway drugs seems to make sense on the surface, and thousands of studies have shown a link between milder, readily accessible substances and more obviously destructive ones.

However, recent research seems to show that we may have been misunderstanding the data that was presented. While there is a known link between mild and hard drugs, the problematic use of all substances may actually be mostly caused by other underlying causes, notably mental health issues as well as socioeconomic factors.

This seems to coincide with much better diagnostics for mental health. We now uncover far more dual diagnosis cases than we did in previous decades, not because there are more mentally ill people in general, but because we are better able to catch them. Likewise, a growing understanding of cross-cultural differences has led more researchers to reexamine how the old data was interpreted.

In any case, if you see your teen drinking a beer or smoking a cigarette, chances are that they’re not on their way to become a hardcore heroin or meth user. On the other hand, you might want limit their access and to take note of what may have caused them to engage in this kind of behavior.